Ellies 2016 Finalists Announced

NEW YORK, NY (January 14, 2016)—The American Society of Magazine Editors today released the list of finalists for the 2016 National Magazine Awards for Print and Digital Media. For the third year running, the nominations were first announced in an hour-long Twittercast. ASME will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the awards when each of the 114 finalists is honored at the annual awards dinner on Monday, February 1, at the Grand Hyatt New York.

Sixty-seven media organizations were nominated in 21 categories this year. Five magazines were nominated for the most prestigious honor, Magazine of the Year. They are The Atlantic, The Hollywood Reporter, National Geographic, New York and The New Yorker. Twenty-four titles received multiple nominations, led by New York with 9. New York also had the most number of nominations in 2015 with 10 and 2014 with 9.

The New York Times Magazine received seven nominations this year, the most for the title since it received nine nominations in 2011. Other multi-finalists include GQ with six; The New Yorker with five; Bon Appetit with four; and Matter, National Geographic and Poetry, each with three. Vice and Vice News also combined for three nominations.

Short-listed articles range from long-form to how-to. Notable finalists include “The Atlantic Slave Trade in Two Minutes,” by Andrew Kahn and Jamelle Bouie for Slate in Multimedia; the virtual-reality production “Walking New York," by JR, Chris Milk and Zach Richter for The New York Times Magazine in Video; “The Healthy Cook’s Guide to Fat,” by Sidney Fry, MS, RD, and Robin Bashinsky for Cooking Light in Personal Service; “The Education of Alex Rodriguez,” by the Pulitzer Prize winner J.R. Moehringer for ESPN The Magazine in Feature Writing; and three columns by Barrett Brown, written from prison for The Intercept in Columns and Commentary.

The nomination in Feature Photography of “He Says Goodbye, She Says Hello,” Annie Leibovitz’s photographs of Caitlyn Jenner for Vanity Fair, is the fourth of Leibovitz's career. Her work “Killers Kill, Dead Men Die” won the Ellie for Photo Portfolio for Vanity Fair in 2008. The following year ASME presented its inaugural Creative Excellence Award to Leibovitz in recognition of her unique contributions to magazine media.

The nomination in Essays and Criticism of “The Accident,” by Michael Paterniti for GQ, is the ninth Ellie honor for Paterniti’s work. His story “Driving Mr. Albert” won Feature Writing for Harper’s Magazine in 1998. The nomination in Reporting of “Where the Bodies Are Buried” marks the third year in a row that Patrick Radden Keefe’s work for The New Yorker has been honored. His story “A Loaded Gun” won the Ellie for Feature Writing in 2014; “The Hunt for El Chapo” was nominated in Reporting last year. Tim Walker is also a finalist again this year. Walker’s work for W was nominated in 2011 and 2012, and his portfolio “Stranger Than Paradise” won Feature Photography for W in 2014.

Other previous Ellie winners nominated in 2016 include Jonathan Franzen (finalist in Essays and Criticism), whose story “My Father’s Brain” won Essays for The New Yorker in 2002; Jeffrey Goldberg (Reporting), whose two-part series “In the Party of God” won Reporting for The New Yorker in 2003; and Luke Mogelson (Reporting), whose story “The Dream Boat” won Reporting for The New York Times Magazine in 2014.

“Millions of Americans turn to print magazines and magazine websites for information they can trust,” said Sid Holt, chief executive of ASME. “The Ellie Awards have honored the best of that work for half a century. This year the Ellies will honor more than 50 print magazines, along with dozens of extraordinary pieces of digital journalism—showing more than ever that the Ellies are the premier awards for both print and digital media.”

Established in 1966, the National Magazine Awards are sponsored by ASME in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and are administered by ASME. Two hundred eighty-two publications entered the Ellie Awards this year, submitting 1,590 print and digital entries. The judges included 295 print- and digital-magazine editors, art directors, photography editors and journalism educators.

Each National Magazine Award winner receives a copper reproduction of Alexander Calder's stabile "Elephant," the symbol of the awards since 1970 and the reason the awards are known as the Ellies. Ellie Awards Annual Dinner ticket sales provide support for the Osborn Elliott Scholarship at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Named in honor of the former Newsweek editor and Columbia dean, the scholarship is awarded to students who intend to pursue careers in magazine journalism.

Ellie Awards 2016 Finalists

General Excellence

News, Sports and EntertainmentHonors publications covering politics, business and technology as well as pop culture and leisure interests

Esquire; Fast Company; GQ; New York; The New York Times Magazine; The New Yorker; Newsweek

Service and Lifestyle

Honors publications covering health and fitness as well as fashion, design, food and travel

Magazine of the YearHonors magazines for print and digital editorial excellence and for the success of branded content and services, including conferences and events

The Atlantic; The Hollywood Reporter; National Geographic; New York; The New Yorker

All publication dates 2015 unless otherwise indicated

About ASME

The American Society of Magazine Editors is the principal organization for magazine journalists in the United States. The members of ASME include the editorial leaders of most major consumer and business magazines published in print and on digital platforms. Founded in 1963, ASME works to defend the First Amendment, protect editorial independence and support the development of journalism. ASME sponsors the National Magazine Awards in association with the Columbia Journalism School and publishes the ASME Guidelines for Editors and Publishers.

About Columbia Journalism School

For over a century, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism has been preparing journalists with instruction and training that stresses academic rigor, ethics, journalistic inquiry and professional practice. Founded with a gift from Joseph Pulitzer, the school opened its doors in 1912 and offers master of science, master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees. Learn more at journalism.columbia.edu.